A new poster was presented during the 2015 ERS Conference and then published in the European Respiratory Journal, highlighting the importance of ventilatory analysis during the Six Minute Walk Test (6MWT) in COPD patients.

The aim of the study was to investigate the respiratory responses during 6MWT in untrained COPD patients. Exercise performance of COPD is limited by ventilation (VE), in particular the inability of further increasing VE. The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is the most established field exercise test. The VE analysis during 6MWT can be an useful tool to better understand the causes of exercise limitation in COPD.

37 male and 12 female (age 48-85 years) performed spirometry and 6MWT equipped with COSMED Spiropalm 6MWT, an instrument which allow VE measurement breath by breath and a continuous monitoring of heart rate and SpO2. Breathing reserve (BR) was calculated by the Spiropalm as the difference between maximal voluntary ventilation (FEV1x40) and max VE reached during the test.

The study findings show that "Breathing reserve is a mark of exercise limitation, therefore the analysis of VE during 6MWT can be a simple tool contributing to explain exercise limitation in COPD even in the absence of more sophisticated tests."

Founded in 1980, COSMED is a privately owned company manufacturing Cardio Pulmonary and Metabolic Diagnostic Equipment. COSMED products include a full range of Spirometers, Pulmonary Function, Body Composition, Nutritional Assessment and Cardio Pulmonary Exercise systems, including Electrocardiographs, Ergometers and Assessment Software. COSMED solutions are aimed for either professional or medical use for many different applications like: Hospital, Clinics, Primary Care, University & Education in Human Physiology, Clinical Nutrition, Commercial Weight Management, Human Performance Centers, Sport Institutions and Health Club Industry. COSMED Headquarters are located in the province of Rome, Italy. COSMED has subsidiaries in the USA, China and Germany, and distributes its products internationally through a constantly growing distributor network covering more than 70 countries.